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Navigating in Groups … Experiencing the Cultural asPoliticalFlavio Francisco MarsigliaPublished online: 08 Sep 2008.

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Navigating in Groups . . .Experiencing the Cultural as Political

Flavio Francisco Marsiglia

In this article, I reflect upon my shared experiences of practicing so-cial work with groups in a variety of settings during the past two decades.During that time I have come to conceptualize group membership as ves-sels at sea. During the pre-group phase members are navigating on theirown until the group worker, serving as the initial caller, loosely bringsthem together. Once the vessels (members) agree on a common direc-tion (purpose) and a set of navigation rules, they start to develop a senseof belonging (identity) as they navigate toward the agreed upon direc-tion. In due time, the individual vessels grow into a strong flotilla (thegroup). The power of the group becomes a shared compass that allowsthem to sail through challenging and tempestuous waters into the safetyof new harbors (termination phase). After resting and celebrating, ves-sels depart on their own to explore new worlds and in some cases to as-semble new flotillas. It is through this maritime metaphor that I willprovide an overview of my group experiences with diverse populations.

Social workers are often summoned to facilitate these gatherings ofdiverse vessels, at unfamiliar shores, adventuring into unknown seas. Itis at those times that the most beautiful discoveries take place, when oursense of direction becomes challenged, and when new compasses areinvented. Facilitating diverse groups at unique environments has pro-vided me with invaluable opportunities to enter extraordinary worlds.My formal social work education provided me with an essential knowl-

[Haworth co-indexing entry note]: “Navigating in Groups . . . Experiencing the Cultural as Political.”Marsiglia, Flavio Francisco. Co-published simultaneously in Social Work with Groups (The Haworth SocialWork Practice Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 25, No. 1/2, 2002, pp. 129-137; and: StoriesCelebrating Group Work: It’s Not Always Easy to Sit on Your Mouth (ed: Roselle Kurland, and AndrewMalekoff) The Haworth Social Work Practice Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 2002, pp. 129-137.Single or multiple copies of this article are available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service[1-800-HAWORTH, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (EST). E-mail address: getinfo@haworthpressinc.com].

2002 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 129

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edge-base of working with groups. It was through the doing, however,that the accumulated knowledge came alive, was tested, reformulated,and enhanced. Different world views emerged through the group expe-riences. For the purpose of this article, I have elected to describe someof those experiences where the cultural became political (Sanchez andPita, 1999). The cultural competency ideal often became challenged bythe political undercurrents affecting the groups (Renshon and Duckitt,1997). The following group narratives illustrate this phenomenon.

SOCIAL WORK INTERNS TRANSPORTED BACK–IN GROUP–TO THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

My initiation into the cultural as political dimension of group worktook place during my group work field practicum. I was assigned to acontinued care facility for the elderly sponsored by the Spanish em-bassy in Montevideo, Uruguay. A large percentage of the residents hademigrated to their new country during or immediately after the SpanishCivil War (Persing, 1999). My classmates and I were instructed by ourfield supervisor to be aware of infusing appropriate cultural content intoour groups. Culture for us meant a generic “Spanish” culture. As we be-gan our work, we were challenged and educated by the experience.

One of the group members, a distinguished looking gentleman in hislate 70s, whom I will call Don Esteban, was very active in group. Sud-denly he stopped attending the weekly sessions. We were informed thathe was ill and that the doctor had prescribed him to rest. Group mem-bers decided on different roles they were willing to take during his con-valescence and agreed to keep him informed about group activities.

One morning as we arrived to the residence, the receptionist gave us anote from Don Esteban. He was asking us to inform the priest about hisillness and his desire to receive daily communion in his room. We foundthe note peculiar. Why was he asking us to deliver such a message? Heknew that half of the interns were Jewish, while most of the residentswere Catholic. More importantly, we, the interns, did not live there.

We raised the issue in group. Members were unusually quiet. Finally,after much prompting, Doña Dolores explained that Don Esteban hadalready asked her for the same favor. She consulted with the group andthey agreed not to inform the priest about his request because DonEsteban was a “socialist.” Suddenly, members became very engaged ina passionate debate. Thousands of miles away from Spain, and severaldecades later, it felt as if the Spanish Civil War had not yet ended.

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Suddenly, we–a group of young social work interns–were involvedin a religious and political dilemma for which we felt completely unpre-pared. It took the group several sessions and the return of Don Estebanto adequately process the incident. We had to take a back seat approachand listen to the stories. Some members were losing their short termmemory, but during those sessions they were able to describe in greatdetail their Civil War experiences. The group decided that their behav-ior was inappropriate and one by one they apologized to Don Esteban.

After the conflict, the group became stronger and members becameactive in different activities, promoting a better understanding betweenmembers of the two opposite factions in the old war. Doña Dolores andDon Esteban became co-chairs of the reconciliation committee.

The described residential setting was a microcosm of the stories ofthe residents. Distance and exile kept the residents away from the na-tional healing that was taking place in Spain. The group became the fo-rum where the ghosts of the past were confronted, a past that was verymuch present in the daily life of the residents. To be Spanish was notenough. They needed other adjectives such as falangista, republicano,or socialista to truly describe their identities. The cultural and the politi-cal were one and the same. The “communion conflict” helped the mem-bers advance to the next stage of group development. The incident gaveme a new appreciation for the confluence of the political and the cul-tural. It also prepared me for future experiences as I navigated throughother seas and encountered unexpected shores.

A “CITY BOY” FACILITATING GROUPSWITH RURAL YOUTH

One such journey took place as I was working at a youth agencywhere I was helping form and facilitate youth groups in the countrysideof Uruguay. I was born and raised in the city. My previous ventures intothe countryside (or as city residents call it, the interior) were related tocamping trips with the Boy Scouts or family vacations. I did not knowthe culture of the interior and I was a bit self-conscious about my “cityboy” outlook.

Most of my work took place during weekends. Small town parishesserved as my conduit to young people. I would often spend the night atparish houses or at group members’ homes. In most areas I went therewere no hotels and in towns big enough for hotels, my contacts wouldhave been offended if I even had suggested checking-in at the local hotel.

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Traditional gaucho barbecues, guitar playing, and singing were al-ways part of the group meetings. Many of my book-learned conceptsabout group work needed some adaptation to be applicable in thosetimes and in that environment. For example, one of the youth groupsused to meet at a remote chapel in the middle of the pampas (hilly grass-lands). Starting time was approximate, as they waited for the last mem-ber to arrive before beginning the sessions. Usually I was the first one toarrive. I had been instructed by the group to boil water, prepare, andlater serve maté (a ritualistic South American tea).

A strong code of hospitality was observed. Protecting one’s bound-aries in a clinical sense would have been plain rude. Taking care of eachother meant much more than active listening. The country was goingthrough rough times, the political waters were stormy, anti-democraticwinds were targeting the very soul of the nation. Groups were a refuge,a risky act of defiance, and a tool for change.

Much of group work in those days was based on the consciousnessraising writings of the Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire (1985). Freirehad the distinction of being among a long list of authors banned by thegoverning dictatorship, 1973-1984 (Roniger, Sznajder, and Skaar,2001). Censorship became real as I became involved with severalgroups located in an area bordering Brazil. This particular set of groupsorganized a gathering to share their experiences, applying “praxis,” andto receive additional training on Freire’s method. The regional armychief learned about the gathering and forbade holding the session.Young people had traveled from distant points in the region and werenot willing to go back home without achieving the stated purpose for themeeting.

A principal of a small school on the other side of the internationalborder learned over the radio about the ban and offered her schoolbuilding on the Brazilian side as an alternative meeting place. Unani-mously, the youth accepted the invitation and decided–in protest–tomarch across the border. After a long hour walk under the midday sun,the youth arrived safely to the school cafeteria where a delicious tradi-tional meal (fresuada) awaited them.

This example illustrates how the political, geographic, and culturalcontext influenced the life of the groups. During the described unfortu-nate political era, groups were often the only tools available to maintaincivil society alive. Food, shelter, and other expressions of hospitalitywere an intrinsical part of the group process. The context, however,transformed traditionally cultural ritual into political gestures of defi-

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ance. Each group decision and group action kept alive the flame of along democratic tradition that the regime was attempting to extinguish.

Groups were harbors of dignity in a very undignified sea. Someyoung women and men involved in such groups were eventually ar-rested, others had no other alternative than to go into exile. Despite allthe repression, the spirit of democracy was kept alive and eventually theregime collapsed under the weight of its own anachronism.

FACILITATING AN ARAB YOUNG WOMEN’S ISSUES GROUP

The early 1990s found me in Cleveland, working as a bilingualschool social worker. I was assigned to develop and facilitate a drop outprevention program for limited English proficient middle school stu-dents. I had the joy of working with children and families of many cul-tural backgrounds. There were many student groups. One group thattaught me unique lessons was the Arabic young women’s group. Theschool district became aware of an unusually high drop out rate amongyoung Arabic-speaking female students. These girls were high achiev-ers and attended school regularly; however, as they got older many ofthem were dropping-out and not enrolling in high school. As we investi-gated the trend, we learned that the majority of these Arabic speakingstudents were Palestinian refugees and immigrants.

We formed a group with the purpose of discussing the female stu-dent’s school experiences. I recruited an Arabic speaking acquaintanceto be my volunteer co-facilitator; I will call her Fatima. It took a fewweeks to get all the consent forms signed by the parents. Fatima helpedme conduct home visits to explain the purpose of the group to a fewdoubtful parents.

Soon after the group started to meet, we learned that some of the stu-dents were preparing to participate in their pre-arranged weddings.They needed to go back to their village or refugee camp of origin to par-ticipate in the ceremony and it was understood that upon their returnthey were not going back to school. Some of the remaining Lebanese,Syrian, and other Palestinian students (Moslem and Christian) werevery vocal in their disapproval of the practice. My initial reaction to thestories was one of puzzlement and helplessness. Fatima took thedriver’s seat. She asked me and the other group members who presentedthemselves as “urban” to avoid giving speeches and to listen to the girls.As we became better listeners, we began to understand the difficult bal-ancing act these girls were performing.

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They were expressing their desire to continue with their educationand at the same time they wanted to follow the traditional ways. Fatimataught us not to put down the culture and the family while we helpedlook for alternatives. Some parents became concerned with their daugh-ters’ participation in the group. My inability to speak Arabic made mecompletely dependent on Fatima. In group we searched for alternatives.The group members became supportive of each other instead of justcritical of each other.

Negotiating within the culture was proven to be the most effectivetool. Some weddings were delayed, others took place as planned but thenew husbands and the brides’ parents were visited by group members.A wedding fund was established and gifts were bought and presented bythe group members. Those visits served as a bridge between the fami-lies’ culture and the school’s culture. Some of the original group mem-bers in time became younger “Fatimas,” bi-cultural women able tonavigate through two different worlds and able to reconcile apparentlyunreconcilable dreams.

The Arabic-speaking young women’s group took me to shores I havenever seen before. My lack of experience with the culture made me vul-nerable. My own vulnerability made me grow and learn. The experi-ence challenged many of my most basic beliefs and attitudes abouteducation, women’s rights, and cultural traditions. The safety of thegroup and Fatima’s presence neutralized some of my ethnocentric atti-tudes and practices. As I look back to that experience, I wonder aboutthe generosity and hospitality I experienced in group and at many of thegirls’ homes.

CREATING VIDEOS IN GROUPWITH MEXICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS

My concluding story took place in the late 1990s in Phoenix. At thattime I was wearing the researcher hat. The National Institutes ofHealth/National Institute on Drug Abuse funded a study to develop andtest a culturally-grounded approach to drug prevention among pre-ado-lescents in the Southwest. At the core of the effort was the developmentof educational videos by high school students to be used to teach middleschool students prevention messages. The videos were based on narra-tives we collected from middle school students about ways in whichthey resisted drugs. We gave the narratives to the high school studentsand asked them to develop scripts, audition for the characters and pro-

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duce the videos for us. The student producers were enrolled in the me-dia program and had the expertise needed to conduct the “mission.”

The premise behind this effort was to have kids producing preventionmessages for kids. Again, we used Paulo Freire’s teaching to guide us inusing “praxis” as a method for group process and outcomes (Freire,1995). I worked more closely with one of the student groups. MexicanAmericans constituted the numerical majority of this group. The groupmembers had known each other for years. Most of them were neigh-bors, classmates, and in some cases relatives and friends. The groupwent through the pre-group phase very quickly. The group purpose wastwo-fold: Students aimed to increase their awareness about ethnic iden-tity and drug use and at the same time produce a set of educational vid-eos for the prevention curriculum.

The charge to the group was to be “in charge.” Social workers andteachers involved in the project conveyed the message that the grouphad the power to produce the videos they wanted from the script to thefinal editing. Adults were there to provide support, not to lead the pro-cess. To evaluate the process we use a technique called “video ethnog-raphy” (Wasson, 2000). A university graduate student video-taped thestudent group sessions. After a month of filming videotapes, we re-viewed the videos with the students and evaluated the group process.Some interesting themes emerged.

For example, although they were formally in control, they were notexercising it. The video ethnography showed how they were looking foranswers from the adults and were having a hard time exercising theirautonomy. It was very difficult for the students to embrace the new ap-proach to creativity and power within the pre-established structure ofthe school. The content of the scripts came across as moralistic and ste-reotypical. The youth were repeating the standard messages young peo-ple receive from adults. Although the ethnographic data was tellingthem that most teens do not use drugs, they were emphasizing drug useversus drug resistance. Stereotypes about teens and about MexicanAmericans emerged and were questioned and changed. Using “praxis,”students became aware of these shortcomings and over time they over-came them. In group they rehearsed new behaviors that allowed them togain control over the process of producing the educational videos.

In time, students developed the scripts, conducted auditions, and suc-cessfully filmed and edited the videos. The product of their work becamethe centerpiece of an innovative prevention curriculum that was testedwith approximately 6,000 students. The videos were recognized by thefilm community through Emmy and International Videos Awards.

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We learned many lessons from the experience. For example, we un-derstood more clearly the powerful influence that social context has ongroups (Hays and Ellickson, 1996). The group members were youngand Mexican American, two identities that have excluded them fromtrue participation in certain settings. The project asked them to be at thecenter of the creative process, to take the lead, to make decisions, and tohave a voice. But just by giving them such a charge, we could have notexpected an immediate response. There was a need to develop trust.

The video ethnography served as a mirror for the group members andthe group facilitators. The members were not claiming the new watersand the adults were not sharing their turf. The cultural became politicalas students were afraid of using Spanish terms or traditional Mexicansymbols as part of the video scenarios. Previous rejections made themprotective of their culture. As part of an internally colonized minority(Blauner, 1972) they were reticent to share cultural products and to bethemselves. It took time and trust building to engender in the students asense that this group was different. The group facilitators also had toprove themselves in order for the young men and women to feel safeenough to raise their anchor and sail through their creative journey.

DISCUSSION

The four group experiences presented in this article took place in dif-ferent contexts but shared a common journey through the waters of cul-ture and politics. They took us across imaginary and real boundaries,exposing us to different shores but similar journeys. These groups–as allgroups–are microcosms of larger societies. The described groups werenot floating in the air; they were navigating on real waters moved byunique cultural and political currents. The groups became stronger asthey learned how to recognize and embrace those currents. Quiet watersoften do not allow for real groups to emerge. Our role is often to encour-age and support the vessels to venture into the open sea. The image of theopen sea brings to mind a liberal English translation of the ancient mottoof the city of Paris: To navigate is essential; to linger is not essential.

REFERENCES

Blauner, R. (1972). Racial Oppression in America. New York: Harper & Row.Freire, P. (1995). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum.Hays, R. D. and Ellickson, P.L. (1996). What is adolescent alcohol misuse in the

United States according to the experts? Alcohol and Alcoholism, 31, 3, 297-303.

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Persing, B. (1999). Arms for Spain: The untold story of the Spanish Civil War. LibraryJournal, 124, 14, 210-221.

Renshon, S. and Duckitt, J. (1997). Cultural and cross-cultural political psychology:Toward the development of a new subfield. Political Psychology, 18, 2, 233-240.

Roniger, L., Sznajder, M., and Skaar, E. (2001). The legacy of human rights violationsin the Southern Cone: Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Latin American Politics andSociety, 43, 1, 149-153.

Sanchez R. and Pita, B. (1999). Mapping cultural/political debates in Latin Americanstudies. Cultural Studies, 13, 2, 290-318.

Wasson, C. (2000). Ethnography in the field of design. Human Organization, 59, 4,377-388.

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